Coronavirus: WilCo Illness Count Nears 700, No New Deaths

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — The number of cases of the coronavirus grew by seven on Monday, bringing the total to 698. There were no new deaths in the past 24-hour period.

The statistics are compiled by Williamson County and Cities Health District officials on a dashboard updated daily.

The slight increase is less than the 35 new cases of respiratory illness that emerged on Sunday.

From earlier:

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — The number of cases of the coronavirus neared 700 on Sunday, with the total count at 691 — 35 more than the level reported on Saturday, according to health officials.

Williamson County and Cities Health District officials noted on a statistical dashboard that 501 patients have recovered from the respiratory illness. A total of 101 have been hospitalized since the onset of illness across the county, according to the dashboard, including 26 patients placed on ventilators and 48 treated at intensive care units.

The fatality count on Sunday remained unchanged at 28 following the death of a woman in her 80s on Saturday.

The continual illness spikes in Texas prompted Newsweek to focus on Texas among a dozen other states experiencing notable spreads of the virus since governors started reopening their states' economies. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott began to reignite the coronavirus-stalled economy on May 1, allowing restaurants, malls and movie theaters to open their doors again albeit at limited occupancy. The governor later upped allowable occupancy levels to 50 percent, doubling the level initially allowed.

Since then, Abbott has launched subsequent phases of economic reopening. Early on, he declared worship services and construction activity as "essential services" all but immune to guidance put forth by health officials seeking to mitigate the spread of illness.

Significant spikes in coronavirus diagnoses have emerged since Abbott announced the reopening — making Texas the first to reignite commerce with such action — as reported by Newsweek. Between March 1 and June 4, the state recorded 71,330 cases of the new coronavirus, according to the report.

Texas recorded spikes in new coronavirus cases in counties north of Houston, such as Grimes County that saw an increase from 14.5 reported cases two weeks ago, to a high of 58.4, while Walker County cases jumped from 41.7 to 186.1 cases, Newsweek reported.